The BIG question

[Lampy]

I am new to Scuba. Just finished my Open water with PADI and I have decided to through myself head over heels into it. I am 16, soon to enter sixth form, and I will not need a car for at least another 6 years (med school next), therefore I will be using the cash I rake in to purchase a WHOLE scuba kit.

Budget: £1000-£1200 (roughly $2000-$2400)
Requirements: I need a kit which I can use both in the cold UK and warmer locations e.g. the Red Sea.

I understand I need both a wet and dry suit.

Mind-set: Mares Avanti Quattro fins (95% sure on these)
Suunto Gekko computer (again, 95%)
Aqualung or Apeks regs, cold water, (only 70% on the brands, don't know a lot about regs except that I need cold water ones)

That's about all that I know...

What I would like to know is your opinion on the best.... everything!

I have two masks with a snorkels which are new and fairly good, though not a specialist scuba one... should I use my mask with a valve, the one without... or splash out loads of cash on a top-johnny-banana one?

Jacket BCD... or back-inflating one... or a wing (whatever they are).

Here's a clue as to how much of a novice I am: When diving in the UK do I need my own cylinder? (or twins?)

Currently (I'm not sure if this is relevant) I am about 5 foot 4, and 8 stone (In the Red Sea I used 4kg of weight).

PLEASE share your thoughts, even if it's just to tell me how much of a novice I am

Thank-you in advance,

Michael

 

[dkktsunami]

Would you please jar our collective memory as to how many pounds ane in a "stone"?

 

[John512]

Would you please jar our collective memory as to how many pounds ane in a "stone"?

Google is awesome for those sorts of things, just google "8 stones to pounds" and it spits out: 8 stones = 112 pounds

 

[Lampy]

Quite right, 112 lbs, sorry I always forget the units you Americans use.

 

[nereas]

Well, what do your mum & dad think about all this? Surely you did not certify without them??

Apeks is a good British reg. That should do nicely for you, and it can easily be repaired locally in the UK. You can use this reg your entire life, or at least for the next 20 years.

A nice SUUNTO (from Finland) nitrox dive computer would be a good buy, as well, and would last you at least for the next 20 years as well.

If you need to prioritize, then I would get the dive computer before the reg.

Rental gear for everything else, until you stop growing, seems to be the best bet.

1/2 mm dive skins is all that you would need for the Red Sea, if not a swimsuit alone. And you probably need to buy this before your next/first trip.

Locally you should be able to rent a double 7mm wetsuit. If you cannot, then maybe your parents will agree to buy you one, however you will outgrow it in a year, so buying anything that needs to be fitted is not a very good idea, yet. Most of such scuba gear lasts about 5 years, but you will be growing each year. So buying is a waste of quid.

 

[Standingbear56]

Hi Lampy,
Welcome to Scuba Board and Welcome to Diving. Here are a few questions that can help us answer your questions.
1) What kind of diving are you planning to do now and in the future? For instance are you going to stay in recreational depths or do you want to go into Technical diving. What specialties and certification levels do you want to take?
2) What features are you looking for in your equipment? For instance do you want a dive computer to go to say 50% nitrox or 99% nitrox. Why do you feel you need 2 different suits (wet & dry) Are you looking for weight integrated BCD or a separate weight system?
3) What type of equipment have you used already, and what are your likes/dislikes about it?
4) What brands of equipment are easy to get serviced where you live and where you plan to go? The best gear in the world is no good if it breaks down and you can't get it fixed.

These questions are just a start, but they will help you get a foundation of what to look for.
You will find a lot of excellent advice here on the Board. Just remember what works for one person may or may not work for you. You are your own best judge.

Your best bet is to talk to your LDS (Local Dive Store) and instructor(s) and see what they suggest. Also, if at all possible, try before you buy. A piece of equipment that may feel and fit fine in the showroom may be absolutely terrible once you kit up and hit the water.

Look at what the other divers are wearing and ask them why they chose that equipment and how do they like it.

While you are at it, I would also suggest you get your Advanced Open Water certification. It will not only give you more dives under your weight belt, but also expand on your skills and give you new experiences. More training and experience gives you more in site towards the diving you want to get into and your equipment needs.

I know this is a lot of information at one time. Quality dive equipment is an investment in YOURSELF. If you buy it correctly the first time, not only will it give you good service for years to come if properly taken care of and serviced, it will also allow you to grow in your skills and training without having to replace things every few classes or years.

Hope this helps.
Safe Diving,
George
PADI MSDT

 

[The Anchor]

I have an apex reg and I am quite pleased with it. I also dive in cold waters (BC Canada) and I would suggest you opt for the cold water enviromental kit on your reg. Also consider getting a Yoke adaptor for Din regs so that you can use your regs where ever you are in the world. Believe me it is much easier to go from DIN to Yoke than the other way around.

Fins and masks are presonal preferences. If you find the ones you have now work and are comfortable, go with them. No point in spending money on gear when you already have something that works just as well.

If you are planning on doing Wreck Penetrations, go for Jet fins or something else WITH OUT splits. The split can cause entanglement problems while diving in the wreck. If you are just doing Rec diving, I find that the splits make kicking easier. Again this is personal preference.

The advantages to a Plate and wing, PB/W, are less weight to offset the padding in other BC's, customizalbe and upgradeable. They work for one or 2 tanks and the bladders can be changed for travel or cold water diving.

go to scubatoys.com (there is probably a link at the top of the page) and check out their DIR/Tech section. The backplate is the big metal plate looking thing. There is very little difference (I will probably get flamed on that) between manufacturers. The wing is the horseshoe or doughnut like thing that holds the air. The plates come in 2 metals, Stanless steel and aluminum. For cold water, you will want the stainless steel one. Wings come in many configurations and styles. They are rated for lift. I weigh 250 Lbs, dive with abut 30 Lbs of lead, my tank and assortd gear and use a 45 Lb lift wing. Ask at scubatoys or your local dive shop (LDS) how much lift you need.

I also have a sunnto computer, but I went with the Vyper because I wanted the ability to download my dives to my desktop.

As standing bear said above, decide where you think you might want to go with your diving in the future and pick the gear that is best suted to that.

 

[Standingbear56]

. The backplate is the big metal plate looking thing. There is very little difference (I will probably get flamed on that) between manufacturers.

Maybe not flamed, but
Safe Diving,
George
PADI MSDT

 

[TSandM]

Well, with a lot of scuba gear, it's how much you want the bells and whistles, versus how much money you have to spend.

A lot of us use plain old masks without purge valves. Clearing a mask isn't that difficult, and purge valves are just one more place where water can get into a mask. Plain masks tend to be less expensive, as well. It's the same with fins. The fancy ones are VERY pricey; a lot of us do quite well with simple and far less expensive fins, and spend the money on other things that mean more to us.

I would be willing to say that virtually all divers begin with single tank diving. A single tank will allow you to do a lot of exploration, especially at the relatively shallow depths where beginning divers are best off. Many people will never need double tanks and don't want the complications or the weight. Doubles are desirable for diving where redundancy is critical -- That is, staged decompression diving and overhead environments.

For your BC, one question I'd ask is whether you anticipate growing much more. (You don't specify gender, so I don't know if you're a small 16 y.o. male or a more typical sized female.) If you think you are going to grow significantly, a backplate system might be a good idea, because the harness can be easily adjusted as you get bigger. If you think you're at full size, then anything that fits you will work fine, although at your height and weight, you might have some difficulties finding something which is small enough. (I'm just about your size, and I did.) Again, a harness system allows infinite adjustability to achieve good fit.

As far as needing your own cylinder goes, I don't know anything about the UK, but in the US, almost all dive shops rent tanks. If you are doing local diving with great frequency, it's cheaper and more convenient to own tanks. If you are diving only occasionally, it may work out fine to rent.

For diving in the UK, I would highly recommend spending the money to buy a good, strong, well-focused dive light. Visibility there sounds like it's quite similar to the viz in the Pacific Northwest, and good lights are a godsend for communication and keeping buddies together here.

Have fun with this -- You have a budget that, if used wisely, should allow you to acquire a very useful set of gear.

 

[BigFame]

I am not in any position to give advice to anyone. I did have a thought though, he/she is talking about getting a wetsuit and I wondered if since at 16 one can only presume there may be a fair amount of future growing. Would it be wise to look into some of the super stretchy options, like the Henderson Hyperstretch or something similar? I saw them today in the $300.00 dollar range and if it could be sized right may last a few years even through some growth?